


Calculating

by glassonion_archivist



Category: Law & Order
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2003-05-23
Updated: 2003-05-23
Packaged: 2019-06-19 11:05:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 757
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15508605
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/glassonion_archivist/pseuds/glassonion_archivist
Summary: What they do and who they are.





	Calculating

**Author's Note:**

> Note from alice ttlg, the archivist: this story was originally archived at [Glass Onion](http://fanlore.org/wiki/The_Glass_Onion), and was moved to the AO3 as part of the Open Doors project. I tried to reach out to all creators about the move and posted announcements, but may not have reached everyone. If you are the creator and would like to claim this work, please contact me using the e-mail address on [Glass Onion’s collection profile](https://archiveofourown.org/collections/glassonion/profile).

Calculating

## Calculating

### by s.a.

Date: Tuesday, February 04, 2003 2:14 AM 
    
    
         Title: Calculating
         Author: s.a.
         Rating: PG.
         Pairing: Nada.
         Fandom: Law and Order: Criminal Intent.
         Disclaimer: Other people's gardens. I just like to play in them.
         Spoilers: Nothing specific. Consider it second season, though.
         Feedback: It's the best kind of crack. email: 
         Summary: What they do and who they are.
    
         Distribution: Hole in the Ground,
         <http://fubos.bluezfire.org/hole>; List archives. Just ask.
    

Author's Notes: I'm a rabid Law and Order fan. I've seen most episodes of the recent seasons of the orignal, and almost all the episodes of the spin-offs. I really think the only reason CI was successful was because of Vincent D'Onofrio. He lights up the fucking television screen. And you watch him and Katheryn Erbe, and they just take over. The story becomes "what will they do next" instead of "what's the killer doing." It's beautiful. And their characters are inspiring. 

* * *

They like to play. 

It all comes down to that last moment, those final minutes when they have their guy and he's holding on to his last threads of control and they nail him, just fucking _get_ him, so he's shouting or crying or staring blankly at the wall. 

They'll stand up, kind of nod at each other and the lawyer, and walk out to the bullpen. From there, it's tightly controlled energy till they get off at five and go to dinner. 

They don't even have to talk about it anymore. They play off of each other like musicians in a duet. Bad cop and good cop slide between them like quickly dealt cards, and then they're the concerned friend, the sympathetic ear, the belligerent authority figure, the interested fuck. Whatever the suspect needs, they can do it. 

They have best solve rate in the precinct, probably the district--though the guys from SVU run pretty close too. Most people know to stay out of their way. Their chief gives them free reign, comes up with miles of paperwork bullshit to keep them on the street, to distract the beauracracy from the shit they're pulling. He approves of their tactics, though he doesn't let them know. Their DA is handed the finished cases, and told to put the bastards away. There's a fair amount of cleanup, but he's in the palm of their hands because for every defendant he tries, he sees another rung put in place on his own career ladder. The officers just follow along, grumbling or no. Most of them are too freaked out by the odd couple to do anything other than what's asked of them, and are relieved when their shift gets moved or they get transferred out to another precinct. 

Almost every defense lawyer, no matter how good, is scared of them. 

They balance each other out. She's constantly trying to prove herself, to prove her control and her mastery of the situation. He's too volatile to be paired with anyone else. She can handle his weirdness, his possessive grip on his notebook and his terrifying intensity on his job, on the cases they work. He lets her be brash, and harsh, and respects her for it. 

There's a reason Goren and Eames get the unusual cases. It's because they dig into them, figure out every single angle and possibility and after all that manage to choose the final outcome. They're there almost before the crimes happen. It seems, at times, as though they can predict the future. 

She can play ball buster to his profiler, and he can pinpoint who, where, and why. 

When they go out to eat, after they've solved a case, they can pretend they're normal for a little while. Pretend they are people other than who they are. They'll eat Mexican, and salsa while the fajitas are made. They'll grab Chinese and watch AMC until the doorbell rings. They'll go to the fancy Italian restaurant on Fifth, and she'll order the wine and they'll talk about everything not related to work. 

At the end of the night, after this transition from being vicious crime fighting detectives to being two people who like food and company and small forms of relaxation, they'll walk to the curb and he'll say goodnight with that quirky, unsettling smile of his, and she'll nod, and they'll get in their respective cabs and go in opposite directions. 

Tomorrow is another day where they become the people the world sees, and fears. 

* * *

If you enjoyed this story, please send feedback to s.a.


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